The teleological argument
for the existence of G/d
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2009-01-23

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Fast facts
• Teleology is from the Greek word telos,
meaning end or purpose
• The teleological argument is an a
posteriori argument for the existence of G/d
• Critics include David Hume, John Stuart
Mill and Bertrand Russell
• Advocates include Thomas Aquinas and
William Paley

Welcome
• The teleological argument is part of
Aquinas’ five ways, his last way
• Looks at the world around us and attempts
to use that as evidence for G/d’s existence
• This makes it a posteriori, like the
cosmological argument
• The teleological argument is an
argument from order and design to G/d
as the explanation for this order and
design

Welcome
• The teleological argument is part of
Aquinas’ five ways, his last way
• Looks at the world around us and attempts
This sentence summarises the
to use that as evidence for G/d’s existence
argument concisely and would
be a good first sentence in an
• This makes it a posteriori, like the
essay
cosmological argument
• The teleological argument is an
argument from order and design to G/d
as the explanation for this order and
design

Final way
P1 Things lacking intelligence, like trees, have a purpose.
These things can’t move towards their end without an intelligent
P2 being.
By analogy: an arrow cannot reach its target without a skilled
P3 archer.
Ergo, by analogy, there must be some intelligent being which
C directs all unintelligent things to their end. Ex hoc dicemus
Deus. (This is what we call G/d.)

Final way
P1 Things lacking intelligence, like trees, have a purpose.
These things can’t move towards their end without an intelligent
P2 being.
By analogy: an arrow cannot reach its target without a skilled
P3 archer.
Ergo, by analogy, there must be some intelligent being which
C directs all unintelligent things to their end. Ex hoc dicemus
Deus. (This is what we call G/d.)
Notice that a reductio ad absurdum argument is
not employed here, instead he uses an analogy

Things lacking intelligence
• This tree knows
when to shed its
leaves, but it doesn’t
have intelligence like
human beings
• According to
Aquinas, G/d’s
regularity makes it
do this

Design qua purpose and qua regularity
Design qua purpose Design qua regularity
• Things happen in the • There is regularity and
universe for a reason order in the universe
• In a washing machine, all • This regularity couldn’t be
of the parts serve a chance, think about the
purpose rotation of the planets etc

William Paley
• William Paley is
probably teleology’s
biggest advocate,
putting forward a
comparison of how
the regularity of a
watch compares
to regularity in the
world

Willy’s watch
• Walking along a beach, he
comes across a stone and
looks at it with indifference –
it’s just a stone
• He then finds a watch on the
beach, stopping to admire its
many intricate parts

Moral of the story?
• From this he infers that the watch must
have a designer
• It is so complex that there is no way
those parts could have just assembled in
the correct order like a stone could just
appear on a beach
• The same applies to the
world

The watch, as a complex thing, requires an
explanation
It is best explained in terms of design and
a designer who gave it purpose
Even if we'd never seen a watch
being made, we could still infer its
designer
Surely the same applies
to the universe

Premise breakdown
A watch has certain complex features and consists of
P1 supporting parts.
P2 Anything exhibiting these features must have been designed.
Following from P1 and P2, the watch must have a more
P3 intelligent designer.
The universe is like the watch in that it too is complex, only on a
P4 more wondrous scale.
Therefore, the universe requires a more intelligent designer.
C This designer is G/d.

Premise breakdown
A watch has certain complex features and consists of
P1 supporting parts.
P2 Anything exhibiting these features must have been designed.
Following from P1 and P2, the watch must have a more
P3 intelligent designer. Notice the leap of faith required;
from the universe requiring a
designer to that designer being
The universe is like the watch in that it too is complex, only on a
P4 God
more wondrous scale.
Therefore, the universe requires a more intelligent designer.
C This designer is G/d.

The return of David Hume
• You might remember him from his last
appearance when he criticised Aquinas’
first and second ways
• Now he’s back to do the same with the last
• How is the universe regular?
It’s difficult to compare things
like a polar bear and a tree

David Hume continued
• Why is there just one designer?
Could easily be more than that, maybe
even a pantheon of gods
• Brian Davies spoke of a pantheon of
angels, not necessarily gods

David Hume continued
• What about a trainee god?
 G/d is all powerful, all knowing and all good
– and yet, evil exists
 This is the inconsistent triad, the definition of
G/d is incompatible in a world with evil
 The inconsistent triad seems to point to an
incompetent G/d

David Hume continued
• Why use the example of a watch?
A watch is a machine, and watches just
whirr and do as they’re programmed to do
• A better example would have been
something living

JS Mill joins in
• British philosopher and
influential liberal thinker
• 19th century
• Helped develop
utilitarianism, the idea
that the moral worth of
an action can be judged
JS Mill
on the overall happiness
it creates

Look at the animals!
• Mill agreed with Hume, asking us to look
towards the animal kingdom
• He points out the brutality in which
predator hunts prey and how deceptive
animals can be; if those animals were
human then they’d be taken to court!
• How can G/d have created something
so savage?

Charles Darwin: it’s all evolution
• Charles Darwin needs no introduction
• His theories pose a few challenges to
Aquinas’ teleology
• Universe and nature as they are now are a
product of a long process of evolution, a
process that’s still going even today
• This renders the need for a designer null
since the universe has just naturally
evolved to this state

Are we projecting our ideas
onto the world to make it fit
G/d in the same way we
might try to see patterns in
clouds?

Final thoughts
• That’s all of Aquinas’ five done and dusted
• Now it’s worth trying to link the ways we’ve
looked at together
 Cause: what causes a purpose?
 Motion: who moves something to fulfil its
purpose?
• Might also want to check out Plato’s De
Natura Decourum, which suggests that
there is absolute evidence for design by
the demiurge